The Bundle of Joy
by irismoirae
Summary: The nine months of General Iroh and Asami Sato's life to welcome a new family member.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, well. This is the first fanfic that I've wrote here, like ever. It has been a long time since I last wrote fanfictions so I feel quite abashed :" However, English is not my first language although I'm an English Literature student (haha, unnecessary information.. but still), so pardon for my advances grammatical error.

I do not own the Legend of Korra, but I think I do own the main idea of the fanfiction. Enjoy, and please review because I'm going to need that!

**The Bundle of Joy**

By irismoirae

-I-

"When did the last time I bled…?"

Asami Sato repeated the question that Korra asked with a blank face. She closed her eyes, tried to calculate the days of her _monthly duty_. She could not remember it clearly, but she was sure it was around two or three months ago.

Nope. She remembered it clearly. It was nearly a month before Iroh was deployed to Ba Sing Se.

Korra, who was standing across her, began to fidget impatiently. She could not believe that her friend, best friend, was this slow, and Asami called herself the inventor of New Future Industries. Could not she take a hint? After all, the missing of the monthly bleeding was not the only hint that the black-haired girl got.

"Are you finished calculating, slowpoke?" Korra finally opened her mouth, "Now should I make the conclusion or should I leave you for another thirty minutes to sum everything up?"

Asami still starred blankly at the wooden floor of the Air Temple Island.

She came here firstly in the morning to meet Korra and asked her to heal her. She started to feel unwell for several days and every food she ate would ended up be flushed down in the toilet. She felt every body part of her was swollen. Not mention the fatigue that kept making her restless. Korra was practically the best healer she knew because she did not have to wait in line to get checked, plus she was a close friend.

"Hello, earth to Asami, are you here?" Korra snapped her fingers in front of Asami's face. The raven-haired girl startled of the sudden sound at first, but she began to recompose herself. However, she still could not shake off the shock that shown on the expression of her face.

"Am I…"

"Pregnant?" Korra decided to cut her, "Yes, you are. Two and half months."

And then, Asami blew a deep breath through her nostrils she did not know she held. She buried her face in her palms. It was not like she did not like the news; she was happy, but also frightened, and excited, and scared, and thrilled. It was the news that she did not expect. Her being pregnant was the last thing in her mind. She thought it was a very usual cold or eating disorder as she was quite busy with her work at the New Future Industries.

"What should I do?" Asami's voice snuffled, "What should I do, Korra?"

"..are you serious right now? Of course you need to tell that husband of yours, slowpoke!" Korra needed to press the urge to hit her best friend's head with rocks, "There's a phone in Tenzin's room. I'm gonna talk to him and you can use that after."

Asami tiptoed inside of Tenzin's room. She clutched on the old Airbender's phone like her life was depended on it—and ironically, her life _did_ depend on it. She was going to tell her husband, the General of the United Forces, the Crown Prince of Fire Nation, her beloved Iroh, about the news.

She was scared that Iroh would not like the surprise news. They already talked about having kids and decided that it was not the wisest thing to do right now because of their works. She did not want to give him any burden, especially when he was deployed to do an important mission in a foreign country.

She took a deep breath and finally rang the phone. She waited for the line to connect by unconsciously biting her bottom lips. She never felt so nervous before.

The sound of the phone being picked up made Asami gasped.

"Hello, this is General Iroh, can I help you?" the deep voice of the General which usually soothe her, weirdly made her almost choked on her own saliva, "…Hello?"

"..Iroh? This is Asami," she tried to sound as cheerful as she usually sounded, but the tremble failed her, "Is this a bad time?"

"Asami? It is not like you to call at this hour." the General sounded a little bit worried, "Anything wrong, dear?"

"No, it's okay. It's just.. Do you remember what we said about having kids this early in our marriage and you—well, we—said now is not a good time and then we agreed to not having kids until at least next year?" Asami did not realize that she talked really fast right now. Thankfully, the General was paying full attention to her and he could catch her entire words.

"Yes.. and what is the connection of that event to this event?"

"Well.. I am.. sort of.." she sighed again, "..pregnant."

There was a silence. A long, long silence, between the two. Asami curled the cable of the phone, tried to calm her beating of the heart down. Would he like it? Would he feel that he was being forced to like it? It was not like he could hate her for it but still..

"Are you serious, Asami?"

"I am.. I am," Asami sounded so desperate right now, "I have Korra confirmed it not ten minutes ago."

"Well.. that was… good," Iroh took a gap before he continued, "Actually, it was fantastic! Are you serious Asami? Oh my God, are you really pregnant with my child? Do we really have a child together? How old is the baby right now? When will you due? What should we name the baby?"

Frankfully, the response of the General made Asami speechless. She never heard her husband this enthusiastic after she gave a yes to his wedding proposal. Still, the response made her relieved.

"It's two and half months right now.. I do not know yet, silly. Whoa—you want to jump to names already? Calm down, General!" she finally chuckled.

"Sorry, being too happy right now. Good thing that I'm in my personal chamber right now." Asami could hear that the General was also holding a laugh, "But don't worry. I'll arrange something so I can be back before you due.. in six months, right?"

"That would be correct, General."

"So.. see you, darling. I'm so happy right now! I think I could not sleep this night!" Iroh said, "Ah, I'm sorry, 'Sami, but I have an important meeting in two minutes. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay, see you later, Iroh. Bye."

And with that, she hung up. Smiled was spreading across her face. Now that she knew her husband would not hate the sudden pregnancy news, she could relax and focus on being a great mom for the next.. eternity.

Well, that's the first chapter. What do you think?

Please review and I'll try my best to make it better! Also if you want to give any idea about how will the two lovebirds cope with the pregnancy months.. let me know!

X,

irismoirae


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again!

Big thanks for Guest1, Guest2 and KitsuneHime18x for reviewing! Your words mean the world for me. Now I know how irritating it is to wait for someone to review you w

Guest1,

Thank you for your information! I'll try hard to write less-ooc Iroh . This is my first time writing Iroh and I'm not good at writing a stiff character, so maybe you can guide me :3 However in my mind, I think even the stiffest person will get uncharacteristically hyped when served by a good news.. don't you think so? :"

Guest2,

Well actually this is not a one shot story so I will continue the story ;D

KitsuneHime18x,

Yeay! Of course he's happy! Who wouldn't! 3

I surfed the web for the pregnancy steps and syndromes and changes. However still, I'm not an expert! If you find something is weird or plain wrong about the pregnancy thing, please tell me immediately! Also nudge me if you find the characters are quite OOC, 'cause it still feels strange to move other's character.. I usually write my own . and because post the story via my ugly ass blackberry phone, it's hard to format the story. indonesia blocked the site and make it impossible to open the site from pc.

Anyway, enjoy!

The Bundle of Joy

-II-

Iroh went home sooner than expected. Probably—well, definitely—, the reason was the news that Asami told him nearly a week before.

Second after his ship arrived at the Harbor of Republic City, he went straight to the Sato Mansion. Cold wind of the night tickled his face because he let the car's window open, but he did not care. Iroh and Asami did marry at Fire Nation, using the traditional ceremony and all. Iroh's mother insisted that they stayed in the Fire Nation Palace. However, Iroh and Asami still obliged to the community and the factory in Republic City. It was not that easy for them to simply move out of the City and leave the life they have been doing for the last... Well, for all their lifetime.

Iroh did not tell Asami that he would come today, so Iroh expect nothing. It was not a shock when he saw his wife laid on their bed, off in her dreamland. He snorted a smile and walked towards her, decided to sit on the edge of the bed, directly next to Asami's feet.

Felt a pressure on the bed that was not hers, Asami opened her eyelids slowly. She groaned a little bit before she fully saw the person whose weight woke her up.

"Iroh..?"

He flashed her a faint yet slightly sorry smile. He leaned closer towards her and kissed her forehead. "I didn't mean to wake you up," he said in a low, husky voice, "How are you, 'Sami?"

Asami could not help but chuckle at the lazy nickname he gave her. "Ecstatic," she said, as she began to sit rather than lay around, "I've never been so nauseous, tired, and lazy before."

"I don't know you're a sarcastic kind of girl, 'Sami," Iroh gave her a smug look as he tried to help his wife get up; "I thought that was Bolin's specialty."

Asami gave her husband a sweet yet soft chuckle. When she finally up, she leaned closer to Iroh and used his chest to lean on. As a reflex, he put his arm around Asami's still-slim body. She did not realize how deep she missed the scent of her husband's, the soft material of his uniform, the board of his chest, and how comfortable she felt around his warm hug.

"What's in your mind?" Iroh asked, worry was caught easily in his tone. His fingers unconsciously played around the end of Asami's raven hair.

Asami did not answer to the question for some minutes, and Iroh did not press her to. Secretly, she felt thankful for that. Iroh knew that her emotions now were hard to describe by words only. He kept hugging her and gently placed his chin on top of her head.

"I don't know, Iroh," Asami finally let words escaped her red lips, "I think I'm frightened. But I'm also happy. But I'm also nervous. I don't think I'm thinking a very good thing. I keep picturing you as a father, and you easily fitting in. It's like you are born to be a father."

He nodded so she would know that he was listening.

"However when I picturing myself as a mother… I don't think the position is for me."

Iroh pursed his lips for a moment, trying to look for the best sentence to come with this kind of situation.

"Are you scared?" Iroh asked, gently broke the hug and looked directly to his wife's shinning emerald eyes.

"Are you not?"

"Well, I was," Iroh chuckled, "I don't think anyone's on their right mind is brave enough in this kind of situation! But what do you think made me change?"

Asami shook her head slowly.

"Thinking that I have somebody with me to go through this all the way long is making me brave enough to face it," Iroh's voice now slowly became a whisper, "It's okay to be scared, 'Sami. But you have me. You don't need to be scared alone. And you'll become a great mother. Anyone who can handle Meelo is certainly the best mother in the whole world."

He ended the sentence by planting a soft kiss on her lips, and did not break it for the next minute. When she pulled away, Iroh patted the crown of her head and smiled.

"Feel better now?" he asked. She answered with a nod.

"Better," Asami added, "I think I'm going back to sleep now, Iroh. Mind to join me?"

"Thought you'll never ask."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello!

Thank you for the positive responses that I got from my last chapters! Reading them and knowing that you like my story really make my day. Big thanks for **Nicole The Dragon Rider, Laugers song, Cameron Dallas, Foreverandtrulyyours, Avera-of-Light, shipperofmany, It's-all-about-the-magic, KitsuneHime18x **and **karez94** for the follows, favorites, and reviews during the gap between the first chapters and the new one. BIG LOVE!

I got the inspiration and the general theme for this fanfiction from Nieriel Raina's _Uncharacteristic Fury_ (you can find it here at s/5102872/1/Uncharacteristic-Fury). If you are the fan of The Lord of the Rings and your OTP is Faramir-Éowyn, make sure to read, review, and favorite the story!

Anyway, I tried really hard to come up with this chapter. I was so busy with my assignments and papers and my head was almost exploded ha! I think I made the chapter in more words than before so I hope it would make up the slowness in updating.

Enough with the blabber, enjoy the reading!

**The Bundle of Joy**

**-III-**

He clenched his teeth as his usually warm amber eyes followed the movements of the airplane thoroughly. He had his hands folded on his chest. He spread his feet the length of his shoulder. The expression of his face was as hard as stone. No workers dared to be around the General of the United Forces.

The first thing Iroh did after he got off early from the United Forces meeting was to come home. He took some honey cake he knew his wife would love on the way home. He already imagined his pregnant wife, with a little bump of a four and a half months pregnancy on her stomach, greeted her with a wide smile because she did not expect Iroh to come home at this early hour. The image itself already made Iroh chuckled.

However, when he arrived at the Sato Mansion, where he and his wife lived for now, he did not find any presence of the raven haired beauty. He searched every floor and every room the huge mansion had, but he did not find her. Felt a little bit odd since his wife told him that today was her day off, he decided to call the Future Industries office.

Truth to be said, his wife was indeed at the Future Industries. It would be good thing if Asami only did paperwork and stayed behind the desk during the time. The General did not expect his wife to be at the area of flight test—and she was the one behind the flight control.

He watched the bright painted plane, contrast with the dark clouds behind it, for almost half an hour already. The plane seemed to fly closer to the ground and Iroh took it as a cue that Asami had finished her test flight. A tall and slim silhouette walked closer to the hangar where the stiff General was standing.

"Iroh!"

A frightened shreak echoed around the hangar, completed by a pair of widened jade eyes. Asami Sato certainly was not expecting a view of her husband waiting for her in the hangar of the flight field of Future Industries. She did not expect Iroh would be off the meeting by now, at all.

The General of the United Forces kept his stiff and frowned expression, an expression he did not know he would show to his wife. The coldness of his eyes made Asami uneasy for this was also her first time looking at this side of Iroh. However, a proud woman she was, she held her head high and tried hard to look the way she always been.

"What are you doing here, Iroh?" Asami asked, "I thought you were in a meeting?"

"I think we both know that ignoring the elephant in the room is only going to make this worse, Asami," Iroh said with a sharp tone that almost made Asami shiver, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"As you can see, I was testing the new Future Industries' Aeroplane," she (tried) to answer casually, "I don't see anything wrong with it."

"I believe you have your workers to do the job. Why it was you who were flying the thing?"

Asami started to feel annoyed. Did not she explain it before to him—she was only flying the plane, safe and sound, and in only several minutes. Nothing big. Her brows started to frown and she pursed her lips as she speak, "The pilot who was responsible for today test is taking a permitted absence, and another one is in a hospital! There was no one else to test it and the project is already passed the deadline. I could not risk postponing it longer as the client want the model to be shown immediately, or else he would not bother to make a deal with us. I thought you, all of the people, will know to sacrifice your own need to fulfill your responsibility!"

She did not realize that she was speaking in higher tone than before. As she finished speaking, she immediately regretted it. The figure in front of her was not the Iroh she has been accustomed to—he was different. The man standing across her was a cold, stone-hearted looking General with fury and rage boiling inside of him. It was like looking at him when he just lost a battle with the worst output United Forces has seen.

"That doesn't mean that you abandon the biggest responsibility you have," he said as he slowly erased the spaces between them, "I would not sacrifice the halves of my life even for silly responsibility that I know someone else could take care."

Asami wanted to take steps back but her pride only strengthen her stance. Iroh kept moving closer and closer until they could feel each other's breath.

"Have you been deaf before? I told you nobody else was capable to test the plane! I were the only one to—"

"I don't care!" Iroh cut her, "Did you not see the sky above you, Asami?! It was pitch black! The weather is unpredictable these days and the wind is so strong! The wind can blow your plane away and you won't be able to control it in any way you know!"

"But—" she wanted to shout and argue before she remembered that he was not just some other man she knew. He was her husband, and liked it or not, she had to give him some respect. She hesitated for a moment before she continued, "—I know how to handle the machine, Iroh. It was not my first time flying a plane in a bad weather condition, right?"

"But you certainly never flown in the middle of hurricanes and storms," He lowered himself so they were on the same height, although Asami refused to see him on the eyes, "I'm a sailor, Asami. I know the types of clouds. This cloud," he pointed at the sky, "Today, is certainly not the typical rain clouds. The cloud has been lingered here for several days already. Even the most skilled pilot ever will find it tricky to escape once you trapped inside."

Asami could not say anything back. Honestly, the pilot who was admitted to the hospital of Republic City faced the storm two days ago and the plane indeed, crashed. The pilot was the best Future Industries has. It was also the reason why the project went so slow and passed the deadline already.

The raven haired woman tried to look directly into her husband's eyes. The previously cold amber now was glittering with worry, anxiety, and scare. She realized that Iroh was not just bluffing around, throwing tantrum at her. He actually cared about her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Iroh!" she immediately covered her face with her hands, unwilling to show her embarrassed tears which streaming down on her cheeks, "I knew it was dangerous but I was really frustrated about the project and I completely ignored the safety of myself.. And worse of all, our child! Oh really, Iroh, how could I do the irresponsible thing to our child?!"

Iroh was startled because of her sudden changes, but he quickly dismissed it. He took her hands with his own and kissed her forehead dearly. The General then wrapped his love with a tight and warm hug, trying hard to not crush her.

"I'm so sorry too, 'Sami," Iroh whispered, "I let my emotion took control of myself too much. I shouldn't yell at to you as you only do your job. But I can't help it… I was too scared of losing you, losing our child…"

The way Iroh responded was only made her cry harder. It was not because she felt guilty, although partly it was. It was because Iroh was so different—the other men would not say sorry like Iroh did. They would only rub the mistake on her face and let their pride of winning the argument ran through their veins. However, Iroh did not do that.

"Shush, my dear…" he said as he broke the hug, wiped her tears with his calloused thumb, "…At least you're okay now, and that's all I need."

Asami finally let out a small chuckle, "We are both fools, aren't we?"

"We are indeed, we are indeed," he snorted a smile, "I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
